You have the Romans. ;o
It'd be like including the Vikings, but also having Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
Well, I want Sweden to be included. They were a major European nation for several decades.

You have the Romans. ;o
It'd be like including the Vikings, but also having Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
Why is this thread missing the obvious answer; Italy as a nation didn't exist until the 19th century, and before then it was just a collection of rival states. So "Italy's" contribution to history as a unified entity? Minimal.
Italian city state (which had huge contributions to history and culture) seem likely to get plenty of representation in City State names.
So?That has nothing to do with the reason because Frederick is part of Germany.
It would be very difficult to come up with a unique unit for modern Italy, since they have pretty much sucked militarily. Also, who would be their famous leader? Mussolini?
You Italians should instead be proud of the Roman empire, which is well represented in the franchise.
So?
Prussia (including big parts of Germany) exists for quite some time, so there is certainly a significant German nation going back to the 18th century, and even the HRE was more united than the Italian city states.
And Germany, since inception, has had rather more impact on the world than Italy has.
Its obvious to me that the reason for Italian exclusion is the inclusion of Rome combined with the non-existence of an Italian nation until recently (and a relatively unimportant history since then).
I would be rather like including Mexico, as well as the Aztecs. Mexico exists as a Nation before Italy does.
With the many other factions, there's no reason there isn't Italy.
Italy is the practically just the continuation of the Romans. In history, the Roman empire lasted till the 300s. In civ it can last from ancient times to the modern era. Likewise, Italy did not exist in ancient times. The Rome in Civ practically takes the place of the Italian city-states at this time. Most accurately would be to change the name of the Roman empire to the Italian empire at year X during the game.
... the Zulu (organized savages)...
As a matter of fact, plenty of reasons were already posted.there's no reason there isn't Italy.